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Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Henry D. Gardiner

Earlier, a post (Places) mentioned that a query had arisen about the origins of Gardiner, OR. There had been a well-documented shipwreck (1850) without loss of lives and with the load being saved and the ship being salvaged for its lumber. Win-win, so to speak.

At the point where the goods were stored on land (nine miles from the wreck site), covered by the ship's tarp sails, a town arose. It was given its name since the person who had commissioned the ship's journey was named Mr. Gardiner. This loose naming was used in several stories, over the long years though there was mention of Boston as his place of business.

Much later, in 1994, an effort to document the town as a historic place resulted in a nice write up (see the "Places" post). That work identified the the owner, Henry D. Gardiner. Now, who was he? It was said that he lived in Boston.

Too, we were told about the motivation for the shipment and a few other details, but, somehow, anything about Mr. Gardiner was never filled in.

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We have found Henry D. Gardiner and provide a few bits about his life and times. He did live in Boston and can be found in both the 1855 Massachusetts and the 1860 US Census. His business was said to be lumber which relates to the purpose for the ship, Bostonian, being dispatched around the Cape to Oregon.

Note: A pre-fab house was aboard that was put up by George L. Snelling (who served as postmaster).

A very recent example of research was following up on the namesake of Gardner, OR. This list summarizes activity and findings, to date.

The Gardiner who owned the Bostonian which shipwrecked in 1850 was H.D. Gardiner (this post contains a slew of links to material that is relevant to the subject from which we are developing a series of articles).

H.D. married three times. Two of his wives are Thomas Gardner of Salem descendants. So, we will be expanding their tree.

Bostonian in SF, 1849

The Bostonian was on the west coast due to the need to supply the gold rush (49ers). We have traced the ship's activities in the time (1848 on) prior to the shipwreck. We have the passenger list for when it left Boston. Also, see ad and its time frame (image). Then, from San Francisco, the barque went to New Zealand. Most likely, that is where it picked up the cargo that was onboard at the time of the shipwreck. See timeline for barque Bostonian.

This research touches upon many aspects of those times (as in, the way things were (still are?) as an important topic for us) that we will go into. Several examples: for one, newspaper reporting that was very much flowery, judgmental, and opinionated.